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H 82°, L 64°Recently the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire has banned resident assistants from organizing and leading bible study groups in their dorm rooms. In a letter sent to a RA in July, Associate Director of Housing and Residence Life Deborah Newman justified her decision by explaining that "we have a fair number of students … who do not practice Christianity, as well as some Christians who may follow a different doctrine … It is very important to us that these students still feel that they can turn to you in a crisis, for information and hopefully that they would not feel judged or pushed in a direction that does not work for them."
When RA Lance Steiger asked further questions via e-mail, he received a reply in September that "[a]s an RA you need to be available to your residents both in reality and from their perspective."
Despite the questionable nature of Ms. Newman's underlying logic — that religious students are judgmental and unable to make a distinction between their RA duties and their personal activities, and that differing religious views makes residents uncomfortable — the decision to ban RAs from holding bible studies in their rooms clearly goes against the school's own belief that RAs are students first and as such enjoy all the benefits of being students, including freedom of religion and expression.
As an isolated occurrence, this may come across as just a questionable decision by a UW-Eau Claire administrator. But this is not an isolated occurrence. Last year the Student Senate approved a measure to deny funding to student activities that promote a "particular ideological, religious, or partisan viewpoint," while the University Senate approved changes to their Service-Learning guidelines to allow partisan political projects but continued the ban on projects that promote religious doctrine.
It is perplexing that with increased attention to diversity within the UW System, UW-Eau Claire would choose to implement policies that effectively cramp diversity of opinion, ideas and thought. As a school that is not particularly ethnically or racially diverse, UW-Eau Claire should be encouraging as much diversity of thought as they possibly can.
But the contradictory and bizarre decisions by UW-Eau Claire officials are just systematic of a larger problem at universities around the country. Administrators, faculty and students are just unsure how to handle ideology on campus.
On one hand, the classroom should be as free from an ideological bend as possible. On the other hand, true diversity includes intellectual and ideological as well as racial, ethnic and cultural diversity. Plus, there's that pesky First Amendment.
Some campuses, in the name of political correctness, have instituted speech codes designed to protect students at the expense of the free exchange of ideas and belief, such as Texas Tech University.
Others have allowed a right or left leaning bias to creep in and guide the policies of their administration, such as the School of Education at Washington State University.
But here in Madison, we seem to have to taken a more hands-on approach. The landmark Southworth decision that governs the distribution of student segregated fees stems from a campus-wide debate over the appropriateness of using student fees to fund ideologically-driven organizations.
Yet, since the Supreme Court ruled on Southworth, this campus has fallen into a state of apathy when it comes to issues of intellectual and ideological diversity. Violations of viewpoint neutrality from SSFC have gone unchallenged by the vast majority of the student body. Instances of bias have crept into both the classroom and administration policy. Minority opinions and clearly protected speech has been shouted down by more prominent campus voices.
Yet, with the national debate focused so close to home, perhaps it is time for this university to re-engage the debate. Diversity is good, varied and nuanced opinions are good and a vibrant intellectual atmosphere can only benefit us all. Raise your voice. Speak up. Let's see what comes of it.
Charles Parsons ([email protected]) is a senior majoring in literature in English and editorial page content editor of The Badger Herald.
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Although I agree that all things are not right at UWEC, I have a question for you, Charlie: Would you be sticking up for this guy if he had been banned from holding Democratic Party meetings in his room?
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Well thought out and written article.
I just wish that people would get over themselves and understand that if someone annoys you they are not criminal! Get over yourselves and grow. If you can’t deal with an R.A. who is having a bible study, the problem lies with YOU not the R.A.
Treat your neigbor as yourself is still one of the greatest lessons ever taught, and maybe if the pukes at Eau Claire really understood this they’d wise up to their groupthink policies. What goes around comes around eventually.
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Mr. Parsons has written a good article. As a professor at UWEC, I agree that things at UWEC are not right. Not only is the University banning RA religious studies(Christian, Muslim, Jewish, etc.) in their dorms, but the Student Senate passed a bylaw last spring denying student segregated fees to “biased” groups. The apparant purpose was to deny future funding to the alternative news magazine The FlipSide that is/was associated with (gasp) the Progressive Student Association!
In addition, as of June 15, 2005, UWEC started enforcing a new service-learning graduation requirement that allows virtually all types of service other than service that has a devotional religious component. Interim Chancellor Vicki Lord Larson approved the new mission statement and guidelines on that date. A student can teach 4th graders math to fulfill the graduation requirement, but that same student can’t teach fourth graders Sunday school. The reason? Based on debate in the University Senate, devotional religious education doesn’t involve self-learning. In addition, because different people have different views on religion, devotional religious education can’t be in the “common good” as the public university defines it (or does not define it). The University Senate minutes from May 10, 2005, record a senator debating the service-learning issue saying that faith "is antithetical to [the] reasoned scientific process I believe [the] university stands for." It is ironic that the guidelines allow students to walk dogs for 30 hrs to fulfill the requirement (kind of shoots down the self-learning argument).
Yes, things are not well at UWEC. I will stand up for people to hold Democratic party meetings in their dorm on their own time. I will stand up for Muslims or Christians to hold devotional religious studies in their dorm rooms on their own time. I will stand up for people to speak ideas in the University that are repugnant to me. Will anyone else join this stand for individual liberties with me?
See www.thefire.org for details about all of these issues (click on Wisconsin and go to the UWEC section of the website).
Kent Syverson UW-Madison MS’88, Ph.D.’92
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The article doesn’t address the point that the policy regarding RA activity does not single out religious leadership and organizing. Wouldn’t that policy apply equally if the RA was organizing a Noam Chomsky Reading Group? Bringing other University policies into the discussion rather than addressing this point directly is a red herring.